St. Donatus
St. Donatus is a city in Jackson County, Iowa. The population was 135 at the 2010 census. St. Donatus is known for its status as a Luxembourger village, with historic architecture and views along U.S. Highway 52. It is the home of a historic Catholic church, which is dedicated to Saint Donatus of Muenstereifel, the town's namesake. It was formerly named Tetes de Morts, which is the name of a creek that flows through the village. Town When Flemish missionary/explorer Father Louis Hennepin came through this area around 1680, the ground was littered with bones and skulls from a major battle between Native American nations; he called the area Tetes des Morts or heads of the dead, which is still around as the name of the township in which St. Donatus is located. Settlers who eventually founded the town of St. Donatus were natives of Luxembourg who left Europe in the 1840s to escape growing poverty and famine. The first immigrant from Luxembourg, John Noel, arrived in 1838. In 1846, Peter Gehlen arrived and founded the village. He chose to name the village after Saint Donatus, the patron saint of protection from lightning and violent storms. Early settlers built log cabins until they had collected enough limestone to build more permanent structures. Gehlen built a large limestone house and barn in the late 1840s that served as his private residence, as well as the village post office, store, hotel and saloon. The house is still around, now doing duty as the Gehlen House Bed-and-Breakfast and the barn is open to the public during festivals such as SorghumFest. Population History: Church Saint Donatus Catholic Church is a parish of the Archdiocese of Dubuque. The patron of the parish and the town is Saint Donatus of Muenstereifel, who is popular in Luxembourg and the Rhineland. The parish complex includes a church building, rectory, chapel and cemetery. They are all contributing properties in the Village of St. Donatus Historic District, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. The original church building, modeled after St. Boniface Church in New Vienna, was completed in 1858. It was destroyed in a fire on November 24, 1907. The exterior stone walls survived, and were used to build the present church. It was completed in 1908. The stone for the bell tower was quarried from the nearby bluffs. It is capped by a wooden steeple. There is little in the way of exterior ornamentation. The exterior stone walls have been covered with a coating of cement and lime. The rectory, located next to the church, is a contemporary of the original church. It was built of stone that was quarried nearby and covered with light yellow/brown stucco. It is capped with a hip roof that features cross gabled dormer windows. The moderate pitch of the roof and the lack of eaves are typical of traditional Luxembourg architecture. The parish is known for its outdoor Stations of the Cross located on the hill behind the church. They were constructed in 1861 under the direction of the Rev. J. Michael Flammang, and may be one of the first developed in the United States. Each of the fourteen stations are 5 by 5 feet, and are placed in open, arched entrances and gabled roofs. They are spaced at intervals of about 250 feet along a dirt foot path that winds its way to the top of the bluff and the Pieta Chapel. During Holy Week the church sponsors a procession through the outdoor stations to the small chapel at the top of this hill. The chapel is modeled after the Chapel du Bildchen near Vianden, Luxembourg. The simple cut-stone structure was completed in 1885. The exterior stone has been left bare, and has little ornamentation. A simple wooden bell tower is located above the front gable. Cemetery The parish cemetery is located behind the church and has many of our ancestors. Some of the earlier graves are marked by elaborate iron crosses. Some of the early stone headstones were made in Dubuque, while others were created by O. Wenzler of Milwaukee. References Wikipedia. Saint Donatus, Iowa. Accessed June 1, 2016 at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Donatus,_Iowa Wikipedia. Saint Donatus Catholic Church. Accessed June 1, 2016 at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Donatus_Catholic_Church Mississippi Valley Traveler St. Donatus Accessed June 1, 2016 at http://mississippivalleytraveler.com/st-donatus/